The Dyers Hand and Other Essays

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One only reads well that which one reads with some quite personal purpose. It may he to acquire some power. It can be out of hatred for the author.

paul valery

The interests of a writer and the interests of his readers are never the same and if, on occasion, they happen to coincide, this is a lucky accident.

In relation to a writer, most readers believe in the Double Standard: they may be unfaithful to him as often as they like, but he must never, never be unfaithful to them.

To read is to translate, for no two persons' experiences are the same. A bad reader is like a bad translator: he interprets literally when he ought to paraphrase and paraphrases when he ought to interpret literally. In learning to read well, scholar­ship, valuable as it is, is less important than instinct; some great scholars have been poor translators.

We often derive much profit from reading a book in a differ­ent way from that which its author intended but only (once childhood is over) if we know that we are doing so.

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